Intermediate - Advanced Techniques in Skullgirls

Below is a list of techniques to learn as you level up your game. Some of them are specific to Skullgirls, others are in many fighting games. If you know of a technique that isn't listed here, let me know and I'll see about making a video.

Absolute Guard:

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During your pushblock animation, switching from high block to low block, or vice versa allows you to block both highs and lows until the pushblock ends.

Pushblock Guard Cancel:

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When your pushblock animation ends, you are put back to neutral regardless of the blockstun of the moves you blocked. This means you can perform reversals through longer blockstrings or punish moves that would normally be safe on block.

Burst Alpha Counter:

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When in your burst animation, you can perform an alpha counter as though you were in blockstun. First trigger the burst, then input forward+tag. This can make whiffed bursts safe in some situations

Double-Snap:

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If you hit a point character + an assist character with a snapback (qcf+tag), the point character will leave the screen, and the assist character will be knocked down but remain on screen. Since assist characters cannot block, techroll, or burst out of infinites, getting a double snap in the corner should lead to a 100% combo on the assist character.

Uncombo Infinites: (should probably redo video)

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When hitting assists, you can abuse the fact that they can't block or tech roll to reset damage scaling repeatedly. The easiest way to do this is usually to launch them, let the hitstun wear off, then put them in another combo into launch before they hit the ground. Since it is essentially a reset, you will gain your otg back each time.

Quickdrop/Momentum Trick:

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Cancelling multihit momentum-changing normals like Filia's j.mk lets you either drop quickly to the ground or in some cases propel yourself higher like with valentine's and double's j.mk.

Burst Baits: (redo video?)

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Triggering IPS in situations where the burst would whiff is a way to punish people for pressing buttons during your combos. If you or your assist is hit by the burst, or if your trigger IPS with a projectile, they will be invulnerable even if you use armor.

Jab-Throw Plink:

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If your character can chain from LP to LK, you can input LP > LK-LP to cancel the jab with a throw slightly faster than if you waited for the jab to recover. The LK-LP must be input one after the other quickly like a plink. It's possible to cancel into throw too soon for the opponent to leave hitstun/blockstun so timing is key.

Dash Jump:

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Dashing can be cancelled into a jump. If you dash and cancel into a forward jump, the jump will have added momentum and cover more distance. This is useful to move forward in the air while being able to block, and can also be used to set up crossups.

OTG universal hitstun:

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When hitting someone who is On-The-Ground in a knockdown state (after a red bounce), the first hit will cause a special type of hitstun regardless of what move is used. This means that a sweep doesn't make them invincible, and lights can chain into heavies.

Kara-Cancelling:

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Some normals move your character forward or backward during startup. If you cancel the startup of these moves into special moves, it will make the special move come out either further back or further forward than otherwise. A good example is Cerebella's c.mp cancelled into a command grab to increase its range

Cornered Crossups/Vacuum and pushback effects:

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Specific moves cause the opponent to move if they block them. A basic example would be Filia's hairball which pushes the opponent back if they block it. Peacock's item drop will push the opponent towards Peacock if they block it, so it can be used to set up crossups in the corner. Other moves like Cerecopter have a vacuum effect which sucks the opponent in towards it slightly, this can be used for ambiguous crossups as well.

Resets:

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Resets are (usually) deliberately dropped combos where the aim is to immediately put the opponent into a mixup and thus start a new combo, with damage and meter scaling starting from the start again. These are useful when you don't have enough meter to kill with a single combo, or even as a psychological attack on opponents who struggle with defending mixups.

Frame Traps:

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Hitting an opponent with a move gives you a certain amount of frame advantage. Frame advantage means it takes longer for your opponent's next move start than yours, so potentially faster moves like jabs could be beaten by otherwise slower moves like sweeps.

Super Jump Autocorrect:

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Super jumping causes any normal attacks you perform to come out facing the opponent. Normal jumps on the other hand, remember which direction you were facing on the ground. Double jumps (except after a super jump) reset the direction based on where the opponent was when you double jumped.

Fuzzy Guard:

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Fuzzy 'Guard' doesn't exist in skullgirls to my knowledge. A fuzzy guard is where putting someone into a blockstring keeps them in a standing block animation (or crouching block animation) even after they change their block. It's usefuly for creating instant overheads with a lockdown assist.

Fuzzy guards are techniques that take advantage of the opponent's standing blockstun to make instant overheads possible. The typical example of a fuzzy guard mixup is to hit with a jump-in overhead, then either go for a low or instant overhead while their standing blockstun prevents them from crouching. This is weak to pushblocks since they can use absolute guard or just push you away. Mixing up your jump-in can bait out early pushblocks, so it's still a valid mixup.

In SG, you can do something kinda similar, but when resetting someone out of standing *hitstun*. As they recover from the standing hitstun to crouching block, they are vulnerable to instant overheads for a short time.

(this video was before I knew about rejump fuzzies)

Pre-Block Lockdown:

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When a move is active withing a certain horizontal range of your character. Holding any back direction will put you into pre-block. This prevents you from jumping back or walking back in those situation, but you can still press buttons/call assists etc.

First Meter Whiffed Normal Bonus:

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When you have less than 1 full meter, whiffed normals will gain you meter. You can combine this with fast special moves to gain meter quickly with kara cancels. It will also make it a lot easier to build meter during combos.

Airdash Momentum:

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Airdashes slow to a stop when they end, and will make you fall vertically down. If you cancel the air dash before that, you will keep the momentum of the dash and be able to travel further.

I might be able to make some sort of use of it with painwheels lk buer on point or as an assist... I might also be able to use on painwheels lp stinger as the opponent is coming out standing stagger...

There is definately a viable painwheel equivalent, I found one when I was playing around with her combos. I think it might have just been fly j.lp j.lk land instant j.lk/lp but it was a while ago.

As for the fuzzy guard definition, I was basing mine off what I understood from marvel 3. If the regular fuzzy guard situation I was talking about was wrong, then there's no point referencing it like that. I guess we can call this "Fuzzy Hitstun" or "Recovery Transition" or something. I'll redo the video at some point.

There is definately a viable painwheel equivalent, I found one when I was playing around with her combos. I think it might have just been fly j.lp j.lk land instant j.lk/lp but it was a while ago.

As for the fuzzy guard definition, I was basing mine off what I understood from marvel 3. If the regular fuzzy guard situation I was talking about was wrong, then there's no point referencing it like that. I guess we can call this "Fuzzy Hitstun" or "Recovery Transition" or something. I'll redo the video at some point.

Actually it would seem that as far as sg is concerned.... I'm incorrect. It isn't about bigger sprites while crouched like in capcom games... Looking at the hitbox viewer, 5 characters I just tested don't actually move blocking hurt boxes at all so my definition of fuzzy doesn't apply here. I'm wondering what fuzzy people are talking about then.... Maybe it is what you were talking about and I'm incorrect.

It would be weird since I tested these things back in the days. But at this point I don't know.

-edit I'm going to delete my previous post as I'm fairly sure that I'm wrong on the 2d equivalent... From some point... Sorry about that.

We just found how to do fuzzy guard in SG. Apparently it's similar to melty, you hit someone with a jumpin then instant overhead them. Double can get a full combo (and an actual high/low game) from this with fridge or barrel, so it needs a video I think.

credit goes to smokey for the idea

edit: Apparently not before the peacock section? Anywho, video will get changed later.

We just found how to do fuzzy guard in SG. Apparently it's similar to melty, you hit someone with a jumpin then instant overhead them. Double can get a full combo (and an actual high/low game) from this with fridge or barrel, so it needs a video I think.

credit goes to smokey for the idea

edit: Apparently not before the peacock section? Anywho, video will get changed later.

Fuzzy guard in SG was known since vanilla. It just wasn't widely known. :/

Found this in a Google search (couldn't find much in searching in the forum itself).
Thanks to the text & video, I get what resets, PG, PBGC, burst baits and double snaps are.
Being able to pull these off will remain to be seen (I've had the game a few weeks), but I can try.